The Passing Times
by Akanishi-san
Summary: [ItachixOc]Itachi before he left Konoha had a very close friend. Her name, is Umino Akane Iruka’s younger sister. They have not met for years since his clan’s massacre, and when they do meet, could Akane change his mind about his life?
1. Chapter 1

Akanishi-San: Wow, what is up with me and this whole "sister" thing? Anywho…here's one which is ItachixOc (as you peeps must already know since you probably saw the summary) and is going to be Iruka's sister! My first ItachixOc fic, so I hope this goes well.

REMINDER: Sasuke does NOT go with Orochimaru. He didn't even have any idea of leaving, all right? AND! They all advanced to Jounin level, but are still working as a team, Kakashi as their leader. All around age 17-ish I guess.

Chapter 1

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura hissed, stopping dead on her tracks. Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to her, frowning. They were on their way back from one of Kakashi's trainings, and they were about to head over to Ichiraku, to Naruto's delight.

Naruto looked to where Sakura was looking at, the frown deepening. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" He asked.

It was then Sasuke realized what she was looking at, and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh." He said.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, glaring at him. "What?" He asked, frustrated. "What's going on?" He frantically looked to where they were looking at, trying to see what was surprising them. "What?"

"Since when did Iruka-sensei have a girlfriend?" Sakura asked, finally turning to Naruto. "And she's beautiful!" She returned her gaze to the questioned people.

"What?" Naruto asked yet again, even more confused. The last time he met Iruka, he didn't have a girlfriend! When Naruto saw his former teacher, he laughed. "Oh, that's not his girlfriend…that's Akane-neechan, Iruka-sensei's…"

But Sakura was no longer listening, her curiosity led her to them. With a sigh Sasuke followed her, and eventually Naruto, shrugging. "Hey Iruka-sensei!" Sakura piped, still looking at the woman before her. Up close, she was even more beautiful.

The woman had long black hair that was tied in a ponytail and sharp dark brown eyes, yet something about them made Sakura comfortable just by looking at them. She had bandages on her under her clothes, and what caught Sakura's eyes were the bandages covering the woman's left arm. _'Anbu?'_ Sakura thought, looking at the woman over once again. _'But she doesn't even look to be in the late twenties!'_

"Why, hello Sakura." Iruka said pleasantly. "And Sasuke…And Naruto!" He obviously showed joy in seeing his former students. "Akane, I want to show you my former students at the academe." Iruka said, pointing to the three as he beckoned the woman. "You've already met Naruto, but here's Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."

"Nice to meet you." Sakura beamed, smiling. Sasuke merely nodded studying the woman. "So…um, Iruka-sensei, mind introducing her to us?"

"Oh, right. Of course." Iruka said, blushing slightly. "Never thought I'd be told what to do by my students." The woman laughed a little, and Sakura grinned at them. They had to be! They simply had to be couples!

The woman whom Iruka had called Akane held out a hand to Sakura. "Name's Umino Akane." She said, smiling at her softly.

"You're married?" Sakura could not hold her astonishment. She simply gaped at the two, who froze at her words. In a split second, however they were laughing, Naruto laughing along with them. Sakura turned a little red from embarrassment.

"No, no." Akane said, shaking her head. "He's my older brother." She said.

Sakura looked at them, this time she was goggling. "Your brother?" She asked. When Iruka and Akane nodded, she turned slightly more crimson. "Oh." She said sheepishly.

"Did we look like a couple?" Akane asked, chuckling. She turned to him, jabbing her elbow into him. "Hey, I think you should stay a little away from me so some girls might not misunderstand that you are available."

"Like you have one." Iruka replied, to which he earned another jab. He looked at his former students, massaging his stomach where she had elbowed him. "She's usually on missions away from villages, and since she's an anbu, no one really sees her a lot. She just came back from a month long mission today."

Sakura took that in, peering at her again. "So you're an anbu?" She asked with curiosity. "What's it like?"

"Hard, pain in the butt." Akane replied casually. "I don't know why I let Iruka talk me into this."

"Well, you were practically asked with red carpet for you to join the anbu." Iruka said, shrugging. "And Mother and Father would have been proud."

Akane frowned at him. "Why didn't you become an anbu?" She asked.

"I like teaching." he replied.

"He couldn't be one!" Naruto piped in, laughing as Iruka hit him in the head. "Hey! Iruka-sensei!" He whined. "That hurt!"

Akane sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Hey, we were about to go eat lunch, you three want to come?" She asked, looking at the jounins. "We were going to…" She glanced at Naruto, smiling. "Ichiraku."

At that word, Naruto brightened up, hopping in joy. "Yes!" He said, jabbing the air. "Ichiraku, her I come!" He started to run forward, and turned around to them, beckoning to come faster.

They all laughed as they followed, and Sakura and Akane quickly became friends in no time. There were five year difference between them, sure, but that didn't stop them. They talked of all kind of things, and Akane asked about their positions as ninjas. Sakura she learned was now a medic-nin, second best to Tsunade who was still the Hokage. Sasuke and Naruto were among the top jounins, and together they made a good team so Sakura had informed her. Also with Kakashi in their team, they were one of the best groups around.

In return for their information Akane told them all about being an anbu. "Sometimes the missions are dreadful, but if it's for the country, I would do it." She was saying. "You know what I mean?" She asked them, smiling.

"I would, too." Naruto said between mouthfuls.

Sasuke made a face at him. "Eat with your mouth closed, and speak when your mouth is NOT full." He said as he ate.

Naruto glared at his friend, sticking a tongue at him. Even at age 17 he seemed like a child. "Make me!" He said, and slurped up more ramen.

"Akane." A voice said behind them, and the group turned to face a man in anbu outfit.

Akane raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" She asked. Seeing the mask, she frowned. She knew him; he was her fellow teammate with a tiger mask. "I thought that the mission was going to start tomorrow."

The man nodded. "Yes, but recent messages has informed us that they are on the move." He replied.

Iruka looked at his sister, alarmed. "You're leaving already?" He asked. "If I knew your job as anbu was going to be like this, I would have never talked you into it." He sighed.

Akane stood up, nodding to the man. "I'll be there in a sec." The man nodded once again and disappeared. "But I like this job." She stated to her brother, hugging him around the shoulders. "I'll see you later, and wish me luck! It's the mission I told you about earlier, so I need all the prayers I can get."

Iruka sighed once again, returning her hug. "Be careful."

"I'll see you guys later then." She said, looking at the jounins. "Hope that one day we fight on the same battle field side by side."

"Good luck, Akane-san." Sakura said, "And I hope that your mission goes well."

"Me too." She replied, and with one more smile she disappeared.

Iruka let out a deep sigh, looking gloomily at his food now. "You know, I don't see her often anymore." He said. "She's always on missions."

"But that means she's skilled to be in them." Sakura said, smiling. "Your sister must be really strong, to be an anbu that young. When did she say she joined? 17?" Iruka nodded. "You must be proud of her."

Iruka nodded to that, but he still looked gloomy. "It's just that being an anbu really…is dangerous. I thought it was for her best, since she would be able to exercise her powers the way she wants to; to protect her country. But most of the deaths come from anbu."

"Iruka-sensei, we're talking about Akane-neechan here!" Naruto said, finishing his food. "She really strong, she even got Kakashi-sensei unawares!" Sasuke raised his eyebrows. She was that strong? "She's going to be fine!"

"Yeah, I guess so." Iruka replied, looking slightly better. "Yeah, you two are right. I shouldn't worry. She can take care of herself."

"She's lucky to have a caring older brother like you." Sakura said, resuming her eating after she saw to that he was better again.

"Caring brother, eh?" Sasuke whispered. Now he realized who Akane reminded him of. Itachi. Not the looks or anything but they were about the same age, Itachi and her, and both being anbu and all. He hadn't seen Itachi since he had encountered him last time, when he was saved by Jiraiya and Naruto, and later healed by Tsunade. _'Where are you?'_ He thought to himself.

---

"Akane?" The man who had come to get her earlier asked. He was in his anbu clothing, and so was she. They were accompanied by 5 other anbu, all camped in the forest covering Konoha.

Akane held out a finger motioning him to quiet. She looked around through her hawk mask, trying to see through the thick forest. "They are coming…" She said and placed a hand over one of her daggers at her hip belt.

"Ah. Konoha anbu." Someone said through the forest, and the anbu tensed. They huddled in a circle, their backs facing each other. "Is this a welcome party?"

"You stay well away from Konoha!" Akane growled, looking around trying to locate her enemies.

"Temper, temper, temper!" The voice laughed, and two figures approached the group. They both wore a black cloak, red swirls imprinted on them.

"Uchia Itachi." Akane breathed, glaring at the man in front of her. "Traitor of Konoha."

Akanishi-San: Oooooh! Suspense! Haha. Okay, so Itachi's partner is Kisame, but I wanted to end it this way. And it's so weird because my earlier fic had a character named Akagane (a dragon in my KakashixOc fic A Change in Life) and it confuses me with Akane and Akagane. But, I had this planned for a while and I like the name so I didn't change it.

Anywho, how was the intro? Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Akanishi-San: Woohoo! Chapter twoooooooo!

Chapter 2

"Ah, Umino Akane." Itachi replied casually.

Kisame looked at his partner with a frown, his hand on his sword. "You know her?" He asked.

"I've known her since childhood. We were one of the top students in the academe and we were one of the youngest and talented genin, Chuunin and jounin." Itachi replied, never letting his eyes away from the hawk masked woman. "How long has it been? He asked and finally looked at the other anbu. "So I see that you have become an anbu. Before I left, I was anbu and you were still a jounin."

"I was going to tell you when I turned into a jounin, and I went to your house but…" Akane re-gripped her dagger. "That was the day you had left, leaving murdered people behind you."

The anbu team tensed, and the man with the tiger mask looked at his teammate. She was sweating, and he could feel her uneasiness. Quickly taking out an kunai, he flung it at the Akatsuki members. Taking that as the cue, the other anbu started to make seals. They were on a mission: to bring back the traitor, Uchiha Itachi.

Recent messages had informed Tsunade that Akatsuki were going to try to get Naruto once again. She had ordered groups of anbu, 6 members in each team to be covering the country, and if any saw the Uchiha, they were to drag him back. Any traitor was to be brought back, for trial.

Akane charged, her dagger glinting. "Itachi!" She yelled her fury as she locked her dagger with his kunai. "You betrayed me!"

Itachi looked at her through his cold red eyes. "Now, when did I do such a thing?" He asked mildly. He quickly glanced at Kisame, who was fighting three of the anbu, and two left were quickly charging at himself. "Much as I would love to chat, I'm actually on a mission."

"And what makes you think that I will move and let you pass?" She asked, throwing herself at him once again. The other two had formed seals, and Akane jumped back as two strong water ninjutsu attacked the Uchiha.

"I'm going to make you." The voice creped up behind her, and Akane whipped around and brought her dagger up in a swing like motion, but Itachi had swiftly leaped away in time.

Akane glanced at her other comrades, and she saw that Kisame was easily escaping the three anbu. "Go get the other one. I'll hold this Uchiha." When the other two hesitated, she glared at them through her mask. "That's an order."

The one with the tiger mask lingered, but he obeyed his orders. "Are you the commander?" Itachi asked, amused.

"As matter of fact, I am." She replied. She pulled out another dagger in her other hand, and she got into a ready stance. "Uchiha Itachi, why did you kill your clan?" She asked. "Why did you leave me?" Hint of sorrow was into it, but it disappeared. No emotions were necessary in a battle!

Itachi looked at her with his icy eyes, but something in them wavered for a moment. However, without answering he charged, and they attacked each other with their weapons. Parrying away from an attack, Akane wiped sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Itachi-san, we're off!" Kisame shouted across the battle field. "Re-enforcements are coming from Konoha!" He was supporting wounds on himself, cuts leaving trails of blood. The anbu team was cornering him, but with one swift swing of his sword, Kisame warded one away from himself. He seemed to be losing, for even Akatsuki it seemed could not ward off 5 well trained anbu.

Itachi faced Akane. "Guess we'll have to chat later." He said, shrugging. He started to put his weapon away, but Akane threw herself on him, her dagger pressed against his throat.

"I'm not going to let you get away!" She growled, and just when she was about to call for help, Itachi beneath her turned into smoke, and when she looked up, he was standing on a tree, looking down at her. "Come back here!" She yelled, and she dashed after him but stopped when all trace of him disappeared. She turned around, and saw the anbu team had Kisame down. The re-enforcements had come just in time; they were able to put down one. Kisame was bleeding, and from what she could tell, he was mortally wounded.

Akane walked over to the fallen Akatsuki member, wiping another bead of sweat. "Kill him. We'll take his head to where he belongs…His country, which he betrayed." She spat blood on the ground from the cut she had received in her mouth from a punch from Itachi.

The one with the tiger mask approached her, looking through her wounds. "I didn't know you knew Itachi." He said.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied, taking her mask off to let the breeze cool her down. "I'll tell you…later. Right now, let's take him back." She looked at Kisame, who was no longer attached to his body.

The one with the tiger mask nodded, and the group left, taking the dead body and its head back to Konoha. They did not know that their escaped missing-nin was watching them do so.

---

"That was fast."

"You're telling me." Akane replied, yawning as she entered her house. "I thought this mission was going to take months. Instead, we finished in a week's time. Since we killed Kisame, Tsunade figures that Akatsuki will take time to regroup and get ready for another attack. In a week though, we're back on battle field."

Iruka nodded, smiling at his sister. He was glad to have her back. "Itachi?" He finally asked, after handing her a cup of hot tea. She had told him earlier that this mission might have Itachi in it, depending on who was going to come retrieve Naruto. Tsunade said though, since it was Itachi and Kisame before, it might be them again.

She stayed silent for a while, but she replied in a soft whisper after a moment of silence. "I saw him." She said, holding her tea close to warm her hands. "We fought, and he escaped."

Iruka seated himself next to her. He knew that they were friends, and close, too. Itachi and Akane were both racing against each other all the time, and they both hated to lose. However, just like Sasuke and Naruto, they were both close and understood each other. "I see." Iruka said, looking at the weather outside. Stars shone overhead and the moon shown brightly through the widow.

Akane sighed, taking a sip of her tea carefully. "Itachi was so different…it's been so many years." She finally said after another sip of her drink. "Taller, stronger…scarier." She turned to her brother. "I was afraid of him."

"Anyone would be." Iruka replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But we were friends." Akane whispered her words now, her eyes shut. "I still can't believe it was Itachi who had killed all those people." She shut her tears away from her. "I can't believe it was Itachi I saw today."

Iruka looked at his sister with worry in his eyes. "Akane, Itachi…just chose a different path from you." He said. "I know how close you two were, but Akane, Itachi isn't what he was before."

Akane nodded to that. "No, he's not the Itachi I knew."

For the rest of the night the two talked of other things, and watched some movies they had rented. "I'm off to bed." Akane announced as she yawned. "I'm tired from the missions."

Iruka nodded, yawning himself as he stretched. "Night." He said, retiring to his room.

"Good night, Iruka-niisan." Akane said, walking into her room. Behind her, she heard Iruka tell her once again not to worry too much. She smiled as she settled into her bed, her eyes closing as soon as her head met her pillow.

---

"I'm off to Kai's today." Akane said, as she buttered her toast.

Iruka looked at her as he took a bite out of his own. "The one with the tiger mask?" He asked. "He's the one who came and got you yesterday, right?" When Akane nodded, Iruka looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Is he…" He cleared his throat. "Special to you?"

Akane dropped her toast, gaping at her brother. "Niisan!" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Please!"

Iruka cleared his throat again, looking at her with seriousness in his eyes now. "I'm just looking after you, Akane. I just want you to have someone who won't hurt you this time." He stopped himself.

Akane was looking at her toast suddenly losing her appetite. "I know." She said softly.

"Sorry." Iruka said, putting his toast down. "I didn't mean to brig it up…"

Akane shook her head, resuming to eating once again. "No, don't be sorry. I'm over it." She said, and finished her breakfast. "I'll be back before lunch, I think." She said as she picked up her plate and put it in the sink.

Iruka watched her leave without another word. She probably thought she had hidden her sorrow well, but Iruka was able to see past that. She wasn't close to 'being over' it. "Itachi…why did you leave?" He asked the room. No one answered him, as he suspected. With a sigh he picked up his own plate and finished eating.

---

"Hey." Kai said as he beckoned her into his apartment.

"Hey." Akane replied, and she walked into his room after taking her shoes off. "Get any sleep?"

Kai shrugged, motioning to sit. "I guess so. I'm still tired. Kisame gave a fight, and I'm glad that those re-enforcements came in time." He picked up a tray and set it down before her on the table. "Tea?" He asked.

"Please." Akane said, nodding. "Me too. I'm glad we were able to capture one." They chattered on the battle for a while, but when Akane saw him looking at her with calculating eyes, she sighed. "All right, all right." She said, raising her hands. "I'll tell you."

Kai watched her carefully as she sipped her tea, her eyes downcast. "If you don't want to say it, it's fine…"

Akane shook her head. "No, I trust you to keep it quiet." She took another sip and started her story. "We were childhood friends, like he said." She started. "When we were genins, we were one of the top, and we became Chuunin in matter of time. We became jounin when we were 16, both at the same time. Itachi turned into anbu in a year's time, especially since we were in a war with Hidden Water, remember?" She paused, taking another sip. "I promised Itachi that I would become an anbu in no time, and when that occurred, I went to him to show him, but…"

"He was gone, after killing his clan." Kai finished.

Akane nodded. "We were close, you know? Itachi and I. We were friends, rivals…and we trusted each other with everything." She paused again and Kai watched her carefully. "And we…had feelings towards each other."

"You two were…?" Kai asked, letting the question hang in the air.

"Yes." She said, sighing heavily. "Itachi and I. You know how Iruka –niisan and I lost our parents early?" She asked. When he nodded, she continued. "So Iruka wanted me to get married to some rich born son so I could live happy. Itachi offered that, and I gladly took it, although we kept it quiet. Iruka-niisan found out though, and he was happy for us. Other than that, we never told anyone, that's why no one really knows of us being together."

Kai watched her with interested eyes, but somewhere in them was glaring. "Do you still love him?" He asked after a while.

"I don't know." Was her answer in a moment of silence. "That's the problem. When I saw him yesterday, I felt happy to see him alive…but I was angry, so angry. And I was afraid of him."

Kai shook his head, his frustration a knot in his heart. "Akane…" He started, but Akane shook her head. "I kind of feel better telling someone this." She stood up, seeing the time. "Oh. I promised Iruka-niisan I'd be back before lunch."

Kai also got up, intending on telling her his own feelings, but she had changed the subject. It hurt her so much to think on her past. "I'll see you later, Kai." She said, walking to the front door. "And thanks for listening to my problems."

"Sure, no problem." Kai said, opening the door for her. When she started to leave, he pulled her back a little. "Hey listen." He said. "If…if you ever want anyone to talk to like today, I'm open any time. Anytime, for you."

Akane smiled, which made him do little flips in his heart. "Thanks Kai." With that, she walked away, Kai watching her leave, his ears slightly red.

Neither of them knew that someone was watching them through one of his ninjutsu, and when he saw Kai's face, the jutsu cracked and exploded before him. Uchiha Itachi stood up, upon hearing someone call his name.

---

"I want this woman." The man before Itachi said, and threw Itachi a photo.

Carefully Itachi picked it up, and he showed no emotion as he saw the woman in the picture. Hiding his surprise, he stared the man in front of him. "Why?" He asked. "She has nothing we want I believe."

"She knows how to use a special jutsu we want." The man replied. He was the leader of the group, and he led them all through his own instructions. Even Itachi listened to his commands.

"Special?" Itachi asked, looking back into the photo once again.

The man shrugged. "Some wind power. I want it." He glared at Itachi, who looked back at him through his red sharingan eyes. "So get her. After your failure before this, I do hope you will succeed this time."

Itachi took the picture and nodded. "Will do." He replied. Without any other words, he turned and walked away.

Once he was outside the office, he took the picture out again. It was a picture of him and Akane, when they were still younger. When he was still in Konoha, when they were together. A red circle was drawn around Akane, who was smiling into the picture with her arms wrapped around Itachi who was looking grumpy. A red 'x' was also written over her face, and it covered her whole body in the picture.

Itachi growled, walking briskly through the corridors. He was going to Konoha. This time, he was NOT going to fail. He was not going to show any mercy towards her. He would bring her back, and he would show the leader that he is no weakling.

Akanishi-san: Lots of breaks in this chapter. ;) I hope you all aren't getting bored as I am. I feel like this is weird, and boring. What do you peeps think?

BTW REVIWERS (Yes, I decided to bring this back up, let's see if I can keep up.)

narutoluvr: Uhhh I hope I showed what you wanted. And thanks, I really liked the intro too! Just trying to work this out to keep it up. Hehe.

Diagnosisxfatal: Thank you SOOOOO much. You don't know how much these words help me write. I am thinking of continuing the KakashixOc one, and I am in the process of thinking up of a new plot line. Debating still, we'll see.

Toyed With Like Marionettes: Here you go, I updated! I hope you like it!!!

Faereh: Your wish is my command. Hehe, I don't know, I just had to say that. Anywho, hope you like this chapter! Intensity here?

Jazzy Uchiha: Hey! I havent seen you for a long time! Hope you like this one too:)


	3. Chapter 3

Akanishi-san: SO sorry for the late update. when I was going to update didnt let me log on, so I figured I'd do it later...and forgot. :( sorry! But here it is:)

Chapter 3

Shadow loomed over the roof of a house in Konoha. The shadow crept from house to house, leaping roof to roof quietly. It was middle of the night, and Uchiha Itachi had come so far without being detected. Watching to make sure no anbu were around, Itachi landed onto the final roof, where his objective lay.

He swung down quietly, and looked into a window which he presumed was Akane's. He looked through his normal black eyes, and as it adjusted to the darkness of the room he saw Akane in her bed, sleeping soundly. She was wrapped in blankets, her black hair spilling over the pillow.

Quietly as ever Itachi slid the door open carefully, pulling his kunai out as he did so form the window sill which he used to open it. He walked in, and he looked at her sleeping form. Memories of them when they were young were not only in her mind, but his. He remembered the stupid things they did as a child, and what they had accomplished.

He looked up and saw a shattered frame on a bedside desk next to her head. Instinctively he reached for the picture he was given and looked at the broken frame. It was where the picture was before it came to his hands.

"Itachi." Single word echoed through the room, and Itachi looked up from his trance to see Akane in her bed still, her body still. With a sigh, he glanced behind himself. "Didn't see you for all these years, and I see you twice in a week." She stood behind him, kunai pressed against his neck. Her voice sounded painful, every word dropping into darkness. Soft and silent laugh followed; pain obviously in her heart.

"Akane." Itachi replied, his words unlike hers, emotionless. He made no movement knowing that it would be useless for now, at least.

Silence followed, and neither one of them spoke or moved. Itachi stood silent as ever, not even blinking at the fact that a kunai was pressed against his throat that mat take his life in one swift movement. "I thought you'd be smarter than this." Akane said finally, breaking the odd silence. The figure in the bed suddenly turned into smoke, and the Akane sleeping was gone from the bed. Clone. "Someone else came to visit me few weeks ago from your group. Long blond-brown hair?" She let the question hang into the dark room.

Itachi reflected on what had happened lately, and he remembered that Deidara had supported wounds about a week and a half ago. "Ah, so that's what had happened to him." He said mildly. "I assumed he had failed whatever he had been assigned to for he was not at all happy, and neither was the leader. To think." He paused. "He had failed to retrieve you."

"And he took a picture…I suppose that's it." Akane said, ignoring Itachi's comment. She reached over with the free hand and plucked the picture from his hand. He did not even realize he had it in his hands till now. "And wonderful, you drew over it." She said sarcastically. "With a red marker, too. What is this? A red 'x'?" She asked, and suddenly pulled back her arm, intending on jabbing Itachi's shoulder.

However, Itachi had unexpectedly dropped to the ground, and swiftly he kicked the woman in the stomach sending her flying into the wall. Akane held her yelp of surprise and pain as she hit the wall, instead she brought out her dagger and stood in ready position, her back aching.

"Akane?" Iruka's voice echoed from the hallway. He had come to the door. He knocked, and brief silence held. "Akane? Are you all right? What was that noise?" The two in the room heard Iruka try the door, but being locked, it did not give way to the teacher. "Akane?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Akane said after a moment, her voice not giving herself away. "I just fell off my bed." She then added, "Just I haven't slept in a bed for a while, so I guess I didn't know where the bed ended."

The tension held, but to her relief Iruka replied, "All right. If you need anything, yell, all right?" He asked. He knew something was going on in there, and it wasn't her falling from a bed…but he did not question her. He knew that she could handle herself.

Of course, things would have been different if he knew _who_ was in the room with her at the moment.

"Thanks." She said, and she turned her gaze to Itachi, who looked amused. "I did it so that Iruka-niisan would not have to see you." She growled. "You had hurt him, Itachi, by leaving. You had hurt me…" She whispered the last few words, and Itachi suddenly felt himself freeze. Her eyes were in full of pain as she remembered their past, and of what she saw last of him. "Why did you leave?" Those words were spoken with such sorrow, so much and with her full heart, Akane dropped her guard. "Why?"

As if waiting for that moment, a large black shadow suddenly leaped from the wall, and gripped the woman tightly. Akane gasped as she felt something curl around herself, and she tried to fight it, but no avail. She turned her head towards the wall, and from the wall, came out a man wearing the distinctive Akatsuki coat. "Well done." He said mildly, turning to Itachi. "We've captured her, and so let us return." He started t turn, but Itachi did not move.

"You were not assigned to this." He said instead, his voice poisonous. "I was assigned to take her back to him."

The man turned, his eyebrows raised. "The leader thought that you might not do this job…so, he assigned me for backup." He glanced towards the woman, who was still struggling. "Stop moving, girl." He growled.

Akane locked her eyes with her captor, anger clearly written across her face. "Let me go." She snarled. Her dagger had fallen uselessly onto the ground, too far from her to even touch it.

The man chuckled softly. "Feisty, aren't we?" He asked. He suddenly moved towards her, the black substance moving out of his way as he did so. Still, it held the woman firmly in its grasp, and it did not seem to want to let go. "You aren't bad looking, I just realized." He said casually. He rested a hand under her chin and forced her to look up. "Let's see what I can negotiate the leader for you. I've been looking for slaves."

Itachi felt his feet start to move to stand between them, but Akane had beaten him to action. She whipped her head away, and bit down into the hand that had held her face. The man yelped in surprise, and for a moment the shadow wavered.

Taking that chance, Akane struggled around and kicked at her right heel with her left foot. A sharp dagger leaped from beneath her boots, and with it she kicked at the shadow. It seemed for a moment that it did nothing, but as soon as she kicked it again and sliced at it, the shadow loosened where it had been cut.

The man growled and tried to catch her again, but she was not so stupid to let herself get caught once again. She leaped away from them silently, and from where Itachi had entered, she leaped outside.

"Get her!" The man hissed at Itachi, who looked irritated…yet something in his face told him another. But the man did not know, he had no time to think upon that. He was too angry for her biting him and escaping him!

"You let her escape. I didn't." He replied, but Itachi followed her out. The two Akatsuki members caught her running and they landed so that one was in front, and the other behind her.

The man sneered at her, the shadow behind him twitching. "You should have screamed, woman. Then maybe you could have been saved." He chuckled, glaring at her as the shadow slowly grew larger in size behind him.

"Already did." She said, chuckling. A whistle hung on her neck, and in a split second an anbu team landed around them in a tight circle. "Itachi, you should have remembered. We anbu have this whistle to warn each other." She twirled it in her hands, dangerous smile on her lips. "Quiet so no commoner could hear, but loud enough for us anbu to hear…" She glanced at him with a mock questioning look. "You were anbu once, you should have heard, even though you hadn't trained with it for a while."

Itachi looked at her through his emotionless eyes, and this time his sharingan had been activated. "My bad." He said as he saw the other Akatsuki glare at him.

Oh no, he remembered all right; he even heard the whistle faintly. He just didn't want the other Akatsuki to take his prize and offer it to the leader as his work. It's not that he wanted her to be caught, of course not!

"Akane, are you all right?" A voice asked, and Itachi whirled around to see none other than Kai, behind his tiger mask. Somewhere in his heart Itachi felt something tug at him, but he ignored it as he watched the anbu look at him through his mask. Beneath the mask, he knew that the man was glaring at him.

"I'm fine." Akane replied, her eyes never leaving the two missing-nins. "A little bruised, but nothing more." She slowly backed up, but the Akatsuki did not object. They now were only interested on their escape. Adjusting herself into the circle around the two criminals she stood next to Kai, her dagger flashing dangerously in the moonlight.

Kai nodded, and the team slowly shifted into an attack position. Kai was the first to move, he leaped forward, his target Itachi. Itachi had swiftly avoided his attack, but narrowly missed the other coming behind him, and he chanced to glance at Akane, who was behind them. She seemed not to know what to do. He caught her eyes, and they held still for a moment.

"Pay attention!" Kai yelled as he threw himself at him again, and Itachi was forced to look away as he dodged his attack. Kai grunted as Itachi kneed him, but he held his position.

"You should be paying more attention." Itachi said mildly, and he suddenly swung down and grabbed Kai by the neck. Ignoring Kai struggling for breath, Itachi lifted him by the neck and looked around himself. The others had frozen. "If you want him to live, I suggest stop moving." Itachi said.

Kai looked at his comrades. "No…kill…him!" He gasped. He didn't want the team to let the man go just for him! Especially Uchiha Itachi! Especially him!

However, none of the anbu team moved an inch. No emotions? How could they abandon a commander and friend just for a head of a criminal? Kai had guided them for so many missions for years; they didn't know what to do.

Itachi let out an exasperated laugh. "Pity. You had the chance to kill me, yet you let me go for a life of another." He looked around, and caught Akane's eyes once again. She was looking at him with fear in her eyes. "You Konoha ninjas are pathetic."

He gripped Kai's throat tighter, and Kai winced painfully. He was running out of air! "No!" Akane yelled as she leaped forward, her dagger ready. She tried to get Itachi, but he had once again dodged, but dropped Kai. "Kai!" She dropped to her knees besides him, patting his back as he tried to regain his breath. The other anbu team had recovered, and surrounded the two in ready position. One of them even had blown the whistle once again.

Itachi watched the two on the ground with hatred. Emotions? He asked himself as he looked away. He didn't have emotions. Not after what had happened. "I'm off!" the other Akatsuki member growled, and he disappeared into the darkness.

Akane had looked up, and they regarded each other with mixed emotions. A hand suddenly gripped her arm, and Akane looked down to see Kai holding her wrist, looking at Itachi with hatred. "Get him!" Kai yelled to the others, and the anbu team got to work.

Itachi returned the glare at Kai, and then looked at Akane before he too, disappeared. She was looking at him once again, and her eyes were in pain. He would never forget those eyes while he lived.

Akanishi-san: dun-dun-dun!!!!! Next chapter, cough Akane cough Kidnapped cough

BTW REVIEWRS

Faereh: Sorry about Kisame, but I had to in order to get the story moving on. Or else I'd have had to figure out a way to fit in Kisame to my planned story. I have up to chapter 6 done before I posted this story online, and by then Akane's already out of Akatsuki's place. Maybe I'd bring Deidara back later, so we'll see. Thanks though.

PhoenixCharmer: Thanks! Sorry for the late update, but I hope you'll stay and see Akane through.

Jenova Remnant: Hehe, I'm glad you like this! Hope to see you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Akanishi-san: Soooo...Yeah.

Chapter 4

"Ow, ow OW!" Akane yelped as she felt a cool patch of bandage touch her bruised back. That kick had given her bruises on her stomach and on her back when she had hit the wall. Plus, with that shadow thing gripping her so tightly didn't improve the matter. "Hey!" She turned to glare at Iruka, who glared back at her as he got another bandage ready. "Careful!"

Iruka didn't reply, he just patched up the other bruises without any other words. He was angry. He however wasn't angry at her; he was angry at himself. He was angry because he had let whatever that had happened occur. He should have interfered last night, and stopped the battle.

The two were in the main hospital, the east wing where the anbu emergency rooms were located. None of the others were hurt except few wounds here and there, but that was all. Kai's throat was bruised and he had a large cooler patch over the entire neck. He was not to exercise his lungs too much, in fear of tightening the lung muscles. However, the doctors said that he would recover in a day or two.

"I'm sorry." The words brought Iruka back into reality, and he looked up surprised. "I'm sorry for lying." Akane said, her head hung. She did feel guilty. She truly did.

Iruka sighed, and he slowly sat up. "I'm just glad you are all right." He patted her head, smiling softly. "But next time…anyone comes, tell me." He looked at her, who nodded in return. "I'm your brother, and I worry about you."

"I know." Akane replied softly.

"You probably didn't tell me because you didn't want me to see him, right?" Iruka asked, sitting down next to her. The woman nodded, and Iruka looked at the ceiling. "Itachi…" He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Next time if he, or any Akatsuki comes, tell me. I don't know what I'd do if I wake up one morning and see you gone." He scratched his head "I really freaked out this morning when one anbu came and told me that you were at the hospital."

Akane hung her head. Seeing that, Iruka hugged her shoulders. "I'm glad you are safe."

She looked at him to see him smiling at her, and she smiled back softly. She was about to tell him what had happened, but the door slid open slightly, and a knock followed. The two turned around and saw Kai, his neck heavily bandaged.

"Hey." He said. "Um, am I disturbing you two?" He asked. "I can always come back…" He started to turn around, but Iruka hopped off the bed, shaking his head.

"No, come on in. I'll go get us some drinks." Iruka said. "What do you want?" He asked his sister, who shrugged.

"Just bring me food, too. Hospital foods…" She shuddered.

Taking his wallet out, Iruka started to make for the door. He placed a hand over Kai's shoulder with a wink, and as he exited he smiled at his sister behind Kai's back. Akane felt her face heat up, but said nothing. Nothing for now, anyway. She would make sure Iruka understands what do to, and what not to do later.

Kai scratched his head as he tried to calm himself, looking around the room casually. "So." He said. "How's hospital life?"

"Usual." Akane replied. "Healthy food," She rolled her eyes. "Or so they say." She looked at the plate at the table next to her bed. Most of the food was still on them.

Kai chuckled as he took a seat next to the bed, looking at her carefully. "You seem better." He said.

"That's to you, too." She replied, smiling. "You were pale and purple-colored when we got you here."

Kai sighed, grumbling. "Well they were pretty good, and the criminal did get me off guard." He stopped himself, and turned to Akane.

She was looking at her hands, her eyes downcast. "Itachi." She whispered his name.

Kai felt jealously spread through him. What did Itachi, a _criminal_ have he didn't have? "Akane, do you still love him?" He blurted. He watched her carefully, looking for any signs.

Akane did not reply for a long moment, and the room was deathly quiet for a while. "I don't know." She said. "I felt the same as I told you before. I felt afraid, and happy. I was scared of him though, this time. I really thought that he was going to kill you." She looked at Kai.

Kai reached for her hand, but she pulled away instinctively. "Sorry, Kai. Please, for now leave me alone…" She felt a tear creep up to her eyes, and a silent tear fell onto her cheek. "Please."

"Akane, I…" Kai started to say, but she shook her head. He gripped his hands tightly, standing up. "Call me if you ever want anything." With that, he exited.

Akane sighed, burying her face into her hands. She didn't know what to do. Did she love Itachi even till now? She knew Kai loved her; but did she love him? She didn't want to lead him on, but it was just so confusing to her. Part of her loved him. Part of her still loved Itachi.

"Akane." Shadow loomed over her, and Akane looked up to see two red dots. After that, darkness covered her into nothingness.

---

"She's supposed to possess some power?" A grumble echoed through a room which 3 men in cloaks stood in the middle over a bed. A man with red eyes stood back, leaning against the wall. However, his eyes were secured onto the woman on the bed tied to it so she could not escape.

The leader growled a warning. "She is." He snapped. "A healing skill. I heard she can heal a living thing even if its halfway dead."

"I saw it with my own eyes…she healed a half dying bird on the road once." The last one replied, looking at the woman carefully. "I don't think she knew what she was doing, though. She held the bird, and she feinted. The bird revived and flew away."

"Why didn't you take her then?" Another snapped.

The man shrugged. "Well, people came soon afterwards. Her older brother and…" He glanced to the wall. "Young Itachi."

Itachi twitched. He knew when they were talking about. It was before the Chuunin test, and Akane had gone to train. She didn't come back for a while so Iruka and him had gone looking for her. They had found her on the ground, exhausted.

"That mission that time I was just there to check on Itachi's skills." The man kept going, shrugging. "I was watching, and I saw the girl."

The leader shrugged as well. "We have her now, and let's just extract the information on the healing skills." He hushed when Akane moved, her eyes slightly parting. "Ah, the right timing." He said with a sneer.

Akane blinked couple of times, and she felt the cold bed beneath her and three men hovering above her. Where was she? Suddenly realizing what was going on, she tried to get up. However, her wrists and ankles were bound onto the table, and she was caught. She was stripped of her weapons, only her anbu outfit where no secret weapons were held.

"Let me go." Akane growled, her eyes flashing.

"My, look at how the thing roars!" One of them chuckled. "Itachi, won't you come join us?"

Itachi? Akane looked to her side, and she saw Itachi there, against the wall. She remembered that she had seen his eyes before she had awoken here. It was him. She felt pang of fear and sorrow hit her, but she held her composure.

The leader spoke next, his eyes on her. "Tell us your healing secrets." He said, grinning dangerously. "If you object, we have things that may realize telling us would be easier." As if on cue, one of the men around her held out a knife.

Akane rolled her eyes. "A knife?" She said, chuckling softly. "You could do better." She looked at the healer, her eyes not even showing a twinge of fear. "I don't think I understand, anyway. Healing secrets?" She showed her best innocent face.

The man growled, and slapped her. "Do not mock me!" He snarled.

Akane held her pain in, but looked back into his eyes. "Then let me go."

The man laughed. "It would be so much easier if you just tell us." The one with the knife said. However, he had a grin on his face as he spoke. "But then again, it won't be any fun." With a nod from the leader, he pressed the knife against her cheek.

Blood trickled from where the knife broke her skin, but she did not flinch. "Did you do something?" She asked lightly. "Akatsuki must be not such a big corporation we must fear after all. They think that shallow cuts are fatal."

The leader growled as he hit her again, but this time with a fist. "You arrogant...!" He spun around in fury, and he made for the door. "Torture the information out of her!" He snarled, and left.

Itachi watched the door swing shut, and returned his gaze back to the desk, where one man once again broke her skin. This time, on her arm. They were getting deeper and deeper as she said nothing, and sometimes deeper even if she commented on anything. Soon blood was dripping to the floor, and Itachi made his way to the desk. The men were getting frustrated. They had been at this for an hour!

"She'd be no use if she dies." Itachi said mildly. The men growled at him. Itachi however looked at them through his red eyes, and they withdrew a little. "You two can continue tomorrow, when most of her blood returns." He paused. "We don't want her dead, do we?"

The two grumbled as they dropped the knives onto the ground, and they too, spun around and stormed away. Itachi finally turned to Akane when he was sure they were gone, and he saw to his horror that she was turning pale.

To his horror? Itachi growled in the insides as he tore strips of the sheet to make a crude bandage. Akane watched him through her now tired eyes, and she said nothing as he did so.

Just when he was almost done, Akane finally spoke, making him drop the bandages. "Itachi, I love you." She whispered.

Itachi looked at her, and saw that she had fallen asleep, and a single tear had fallen from her eyes. Something forced Itachi to wipe the tear off her cheek, and run a finger through her hair which now was tainted with blood.

"Itachi…" She whispered, turning her head away from him when he touched a fresh wound on her cheek. "Why did you leave me?"

"I love you." She said again.

Akanishi-san: omfg! intense! lol. yeah, anyway. review please! and sorry, but the BTW reviewer thing is down this chapter. busyyyy school stinks. haha


	5. Chapter 5

Akanishi-san: Hmmm...Anyone want to help me? I'm pretty much stuck after this chapter. If anyone has ideas, PLEASE e-mail me or message me or whatever. Thanks!

Chapter 5

The next few days went the same, the two always returned and the woman held her position. Everyday when they finish and still have no information, Itachi would come and stop them and make them leave. He then would bandage her. She seem to not know what she had said before, for she said no more to Itachi, and did not even look at him anymore.

Somehow, that had hurt the most to Itachi. He caught himself almost saying her name as he bandaged her up, but he stopped himself just in time. He gritted his teeth, and silently finished the work.

By the end of the week everyone could tell that she was falling. With lack of water and food, she was already energy-less, and with the blood loss, she was losing health. "We need to feed her." Itachi said one day, as they went through a hallway leading to the room where they last left the woman. The men were carrying couple of kunai, ready to cut the woman again.

"Why should we?" The leader asked, even though he knew why. "She doesn't deserve anything."

"Then we will never get the information." Itachi replied. Silence hung, and when they opened the door to the room, the men cursed. The woman was gone, instead the torn ropes where they had tied her was left on the table.

---

"Why did you do that." Akane asked in a faint whisper as the door to the room where she stayed opened. "You should have left me there, to die."

Itachi looked at her. She was where he had last left her. After the torturers were gone, Itachi had bandaged her up and brought her to his own room. No one bothered him there, for everyone was afraid to do so. Last time anyone tried to come in without his permission had spent weeks imagining his death in his dreams. After that, no one really came near his room.

"You were dying, and I want the information." Itachi said, but he knew it was not it.

Akane finally looked up and looked into his red eyes fearlessly. "Guilt?" She asked. "You just probably could not live with the guilt, right? We were friends, and you left. Then you brought me here. Guilt. You just wanted to save yourself from guilt, not me."

Itachi wavered on his feet, but regaining himself quickly he walked across the room and dropped something at her feet. Akane looked to see that it was food of various kinds. They looked appetizing, but Akane was unable to bring herself to take one and eat. She had no energy to do so, or the thought to do so. It was as if she had lost the will to live.

Itachi watched her sit there, and he cursed mentally. He kneeled besides her and peeled an orange. He offered it to her, but she looked away. "You'll die if you don't eat." He said.

"So be it." Was her reply. "At least when they find me in your rooms, they know who to blame this for." She kept her gaze away from him.

Itachi stayed silent. Suddenly he got up, and left her. Akane heard the door close, and she let out a sigh. "Iruka-niisan, Kai…" She whispered, and a tear escaped her.

Itachi froze on his steps when he heard the last word. "Kai." She had said. He whirled around and opened the door with a crash. Making sure that the door was locked, he stormed across the room and dropped besides her, punching the wall next to her head.

"Don't you ever say his name again." He growled. What made him so angry?

Akane looked at him. "Iruka-niisan?" She asked. When he did not reply, she said very softly, "Kai?"

Itachi growled dangerously, glaring at her. "Him!" He snapped.

"Why?" Akane asked. "You don't know him. He doesn't know you." She said, confused. "He's never done anything to you, Kai…"

Her voice was muffled when she felt something crush her lips, and her eyes widened to see Itachi's eyes before her. Was he…kissing her? "Mmmph!" Akane gasped as she struggled, and with her remaining energy she pushed him off of her. She held her handover her lips, her eyes tearing.

Itachi had a red mark on his cheek where she had slapped him away, and he did not look at her. "Why do you do this?" Akane whispered. "Do you like…torturing me?" She asked. "Do you hate me so much? What did I do to you to make you hate me? Was that why you left…" She gasped as Itachi suddenly pulled her towards him, hugging her close.

"I...tachi?" She asked, even more confused. Was this the Itachi she had been seeing these last couple of days?

Itachi said nothing, but when he pulled a little away from her and saw her face, he brought his face down to kiss her once again. He did not know what made him do so. He just felt…right to do so. This time, Akane did not object, she gave in; to him and to herself. She just wanted to feel comfortable.

"I didn't kill them." He said after a long moment of silence. She was still in his arms, and they were resting against a wall.

Akane looked up to see his face. His eyes flashed sorrow and he looked down to see hers. "It's my fault, that I became involved with them, but I didn't kill them." He said again.

What was he talking about? Akane frowned, searching for the answers. "Itachi?"

"I let them kill the whole clan." He whispered the words. "And I couldn't live with the fact that I let them kill my family. So I went with them." He looked at her again, his eyes back to his normal black eyes. There were so much pain in them, so much that Akane brushed a finger over one of them. "I thought I left behind all my emotions there, at the Uchiha Mansion. Feelings for family, friends…" He paused. "And you."

Akane said nothing as she watched him, and finally he spoke again. "I left, because I couldn't bear to stay there. No one would blame me, I believed. They would cuddle me up and say that it wasn't my fault." He looked away from her. "That's why, I left. I didn't…want to leave you."

Akane gasped at those words, and she felt her heart lighten. "Itachi…" She rested her head against his neck joint, letting a sigh with a soft smile on her lips. "Come back to Konoha, Itachi." She said after another moment of silence. "You're not a criminal. You can live there…with Sasuke…"

"Sasuke…" Itachi looked at her, his eyes flashing worry. "Is he doing well?" He asked.

Akane nodded. "He's a jounin now." She kissed his eyes, which were still looking pained. "Just like you. He looks just like you." She smiled at him, and he forced a smile in return.

"But he's one of the people I don't want to see." Itachi said. "What would he say when he hears that I was the cause of our parents' deaths?"

"But you didn't mean them to happen." She replied softly, holding his hands for his and her own comfort.

"Was he angry about the…incident?" He asked, searching her for answers.

Understanding that he was talking about when Itachi had forced Sasuke and Kakashi into coma, she paused. "I think…that's an understatement." She said. Seeing his look, she hastily added, "But he's over it. He's strong, and you know that."

Itachi hugged her tightly, and she rested her head against his chest. "Itachi, let's go back." She said. "I'll help you explain everything to them."

Itachi shook his head. "They won't believe me now."

"So you are going to run away again?" Akane asked, pulling away from him to look at him. "You are going to run away from your problems?" She rested a hand on one of his arms. "You ran away last time and look how it turned out to be." She waved her arm around the room.

Itachi said nothing. "Eat, Akane." He said, pointing to the food he had brought back earlier.

"Itachi…" Akane started, believing that he was avoiding the question.

But Itachi shook his head, standing up. "We have a long road ahead, and if we want to leave without them noticing, we have to run fast. You'll need your energy." He smiled at her, and Akane's eyes widened.

"Itachi!" She gasped, and she jumped to her feet, wrapping her arms around him.

He hugged her back, and released her with orders to eat. She complied, and started to do so. "How far is it?" She asked as she watched Itachi get ready as she ate.

"Couple of days." He replied, taking his cloak and putting it over himself. "I need to leave some stuff here, so it won't look suspicious." He sighed, shuffling around.

Feeling stuffed, Akane stood up. "Let me help you." She said, and opened the closest cabinet drawer.

"Wait! Not there!" Itachi gasped, but too late, she had it opened. He groaned when she saw her expression. "I just grabbed everything I owned when I left Konoha and those just happened to be the ones I grabbed." He tried to give excuses, but he could tell it wasn't working.

Akane pulled out albums, and she opened it to reveal pictures of themselves, and only, themselves. She flipped through them in wonder, and she flipped another and saw family pictures, but here, too she was in them. His family treated her as a family anyway, so it wasn't that odd in the household if she was there.

Next she pulled out notes they had written to each other during academe years and then letters and cards she had given him. She finally took out a small box, and she opened to reveal a note. It read: Happy Birthday Itachi. Love, Akane.

Akane finally turned to him, and she raised an eyebrow. "Left all your emotions at Konoha?" She asked. He blushed a little, turning away. She looked at the box again. "Where's the necklace I gave you that was in here?"

Itachi reached under his cloak, and produced a necklace that was fastened around his neck. "I couldn't throw it away, or leave it." He muttered.

Akane chuckled, shaking her head a little. "I still have everything you gave me, and the photo albums." She said. "Iruka-niisan wanted me to throw them away so I could 'forget' about you." She saw him tense a little. "But I couldn't." She looked up into his eyes, and smiled softly. "I love you, and I couldn't just put it away."

Itachi looked at her, and he sighed heavily. "Do you think they'll let me come back?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Akane shook her head. "I don't know." She replied. "But even if Tsunade-sama agrees on letting you return, you have a lot of work to do to regain everyone's trust." She looked at him, her eyes sparkling. "And mine."

"I won't leave again." Itachi said, walking up to her slowly. "I promise."

"Easy said than done." Akane said, but hugged him. "But I trust you." She pulled away, and looked around. "Ready?" She asked. With Itachi's nod, she started for the door but Itachi pulled her back.

"Wear this." He said, and handed her a cloak. "And this." He threw her his hat. "Cover your face, and tuck your hair in." Akane quickly put them on. "They watch us carefully, here. You'll have to pass as my new partner for now." When he saw her opening her mouth, he shook his head. "No, we can't go around. This place is covered."

"They'll believe this?" Akane asked, looking up at him under the hat.

He pushed the hat down, chuckling. "Looks actually real than you think." He replied, and opened the door.

They slowly crept through the headquarters, making sure they passed no one. Fortunetly, most seemed to be off somewhere, and they were able to get out. The leader and the two torturers were gone, most likely hunting for the woman. No one had even thought that she might be in the headquarters.

"We're out of their boundary." Itachi said after an hour or so. They had kept silent all this time, and neither made comments. They both just walked on, and no one if they even saw the two commented or said hi.

Akane looked around her surrounding, and suddenly her stomach growled. "Arg." She groaned. She heard Itachi chuckling, and she shot him a glare. "It's not my fault I got into this situation." She snapped.

Itachi stopped chuckling, and his eyes flashed a little with worry. Showing emotions suddenly was getting hard for him. "I'm sorry." He said.

"You just owe me a lot." She replied after a moment of silence. "A lot, mind you." She added with a chuckle. "Let's start with food?"

Itachi handed her a bag and she looked into it as they walked. In it she found some she would want to eat and ate those. They camped later that night, making sure that they had their camp located where no one would stumble across. The next day they would wake up early before sun rise, and start walking.

Couple days passed, and Akane felt her senses start to tense, and she felt Itachi tensing as well. As they got closer, Itachi started to walk slower, and she had to urge him to keep walking when they had rested for a while. He reluctantly complied, and walked on.

"Stop." Someone said suddenly.

The two tensed, and neither spoke. "Akane?" Someone asked, and Akane looked behind her to see none other than Kai there, standing behind two anbu who held kunai behind them. "You…you're alive!" He briskly walked forward and moved the anbu that held the kunai at her.

"Ka…Kai!" The words tumbled from her mouth, and she felt relieved to see him. It meant that they were closer to home! He hugged her as soon as they were close enough, and she hugged him back.

"You have been missing for a week and two days! Iruka is going to be so happy!" Kai said, looking over her for injuries. To his dismay, he found a lot, cuts and bruises…but they were healing. He felt someone glaring at him, and he turned to face a man with red eyes glaring. Kai growled, pulling Akane away from him.

"Kai, no!" Akane said, pushing him away. Untangling herself from him, she stood between Itachi and Kai. "He's here in peace."

Kai stared at her as if she was going insane. "In _peace_?" He asked in disbelief. "Him?" He glared at Itachi, who glared back.

Akane nodded. Turning to the anbu holding the knife at Itachi, she shook her head. "Please step away from him." She said. That, was an order and the anbu knew. Reluctantly he pulled away, but not after giving a glare at Itachi.

"Akane, what has gotten into you?" Kai asked, his eyes never leaving Itachi. "He's a criminal! He killed dozens of people!"

"No." Akane replied. The anbu looked at her as if they were seeing her for the first time. "I'll explain when we get back to Konoha. For now, please don't make a fuss." She felt dizzy. Since her recovery started, she had to eat once in couple of hours, and drink every hour.

Itachi caught her stumbling, and he felt Kai tensing up in front of him. "Here." Itachi said, ignoring the anbu as he held out a water flask to the woman. She gratefully took it, and took gulps of its contents. "She needs rest. If you need to interrogate me, please do so when I find a place for her to rest."

Kai moved to take her, but Itachi pulled away, glaring. "I will take her home." Kai said, gritting his teeth tightly. He didn't like the idea of letting her stay in his arms at all. "My team will take you to Konoha, and I will take her back."

"I think I have a say." Akane said, standing back up onto her feet. She handed the flask back to Itachi, and she looked at Kai. "I want to stay with Itachi, I want to make sure he doesn't do anything…rash."

Itachi gave her a look, but he said or did nothing. Kai watched this with an odd and jealous feeling inside him, but he complied. "Come on." He said, and they walked on.

Of course, the anbu team confiscated Itachi's weapons, but they were still tense as they walked. They had him circled, and they looked at him with wary eyes. Eyes. Itachi would never be stripped of weapons, unless someone took his eyes out. The Sharingan eyes alone were a good weapon.

---

"Enter." Tsunade said, as she tensed. An anbu had come earlier to tell her of her "guest." She watched the missing-nin come in carefully, her eyes never leaving his. He stared right back at her with his normal eyes, and he tried to look as harmless as possible.

Kai entered along with the anbu team, and he walked to the front of everyone. "Uchiha Itachi, a missing-nin and Akatsuki member." He growled through his report. "Found him…and Akane in the eastern forest around noon, and we have brought him. He is stripped of all weapons…except his eyes." He gritted his teeth, and he tried not to glare.

Tsunade waved at him to stop. "I know what I need to know." She said. Kai bowed and stepped aside. "I assume you had trouble getting here?" She asked mildly as Itachi stepped forward.

He shrugged. "The guards didn't believe that they had actually caught me." He looked amused. "They wouldn't open the gate, because they thought that I had brainwashed their minds." He glanced behind him, and he only saw hostile eyes, except Akane's, who looked worried.

"I would assume so." Tsunade said. She paused, and looked around. "If you people please excuse us." She said.

That was not a advice, but an order. Akane glanced at Itachi with worry, but he regarded back to her with a smile hidden in his eyes. Knowing that he could handle this himself, Akane left the room. The anbu team was reluctant to leave the missing-nin with their Hokage alone, but it was an order. With glares, they walked out.

Kai was last to leave, and he made sure that his glares met Itachi. The Uchiha glared back, but said nothing. "Kai?" Tsunade asked. Kai looked at her to see her looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Bowing, Kai left the room.

Akane was standing outside along with the anbu team, and they all looked ready to jump in when something went wrong. Akane had sat down, and she took a sip of water someone handed to her. "Thanks." She said to him.

"What has gotten into you?" Kai wanted to know. He looked at her finally, and he squatted down in front of her. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing." Was Akane's reply. "He's different. Well, he never changed." She tried to explain, but a sudden thud answered them.

Both Akane and Kai hastily jumped to their feet, and was about to barge in but Itachi emerged from the door, a large red mark on his cheek. He was massaging his back, and when everyone else looked through the door, Tsunade was at her desk, filing papers.

"What happened?" Akane asked, worried. She looked at his cheek, and tried to heal it for him, but he stepped away from her.

Shaking his head at her, he said; "I think I deserve this punch." He explained, placing a hand over his reddened cheek. "And I think I deserve one that's going to come." He sighed as the other Uchiha came into view.

"Aniki." He growled, as Sasuke neared them. "You did come."

Itachi looked at him with a tired look. "Akane, I think you should step away."

Kai wasted no time, he pulled Akane back before she could protest. Sasuke already had his hand held up, Chidori sparking everywhere. "Aniki!" He yelled, anger boiling inside. He suddenly dashed forward, his Chidori in front of himself. Akane tried to struggle out, but when she met Itachi's eyes, she stopped.

However, when Sasuke realized that his older brother was not going to dodge or protect himself, he instinctively moved his Chidori, but too late. He had ran his brother, but not all the way. He sent his brother back into a wall, and he grunted as he got up as he studied his new wounds.

"Why didn't you move." Sasuke growled. He was growing wary.

Itachi faced his brother. "I don't want to be your enemy, Sasuke." He spoke carefully. Akane had come to him now, and she supported his balance. "I want to be a brother I never was before to you. I have permission to stay here, from Tsunade-sama. I am, however to be watched by couple of anbu during my stay.'

Sasuke stood there gaping at him. Confused and angry, he whirled and walked away. Akane watched him as he turned a corner, and she turned to Itachi, who slumped to the ground. "You could have dodged." She scolded him.

"Would that give Sasuke satisfaction?" He asked, trying to ease his pain.

Kai watched the two with angered look, and disgusted, he also turned and walked away. He loved Akane, since they became partners in anbu teams. But Itachi…Itachi, of all people was her boyfriend before, and now? He couldn't watch; he knew that if he talked, he would hurt Itachi or even kill him. Well, if he could that is. There had to be a catch, and Kai was determined to see it happen and protect Akane from it. There just had to be one. There was no way _he_ was going "good".

Akane watched Itachi carefully, holding back her itch on healing Itachi. He would not have liked that. She looked up to see Kai walking away, and the other anbu were slowly retreating. Couple of them actually went into Tsunade-sama's office, most likely to try to knock some sense into her.

Was this the truth? Could she believe him? Would she love him all the same?

The answer, was yes. Because she loved him.

Akanishi-san: ARGGGG! OOC-ness! I'm SORRY!

BTW REVIEWERS:

LittleAngel: Yes...school stinks. It reeks with smell of homework and classwork. AHHHHA! haha. Thanks for your review!

MTG-ENFlAME: Thanks! So far I like how this is going, too! i just hope I can keep it up. Arg.

MMchick: Deidar is part of the Akatsuki, and he comes WAY after where I believe the American manga/anime are at. Deidara comes after Sasuke . Can't tell you since I'm afraid some of you might not know what happens to him. No, he doesn't die. Anyway, moving on! Thanks for the reivew!

Ryusuki: Thats the problem. I don't know what is going to happen next, haha. I'm stuck on chapter 6. Oh lords.

Darkmoon: Thanks! I know i've been making a lof of mistakes, but I can't help it. I think it's time for me to get a beta reader, so she/he can help me with plots and check grammar/spelling mistake stuff.


	6. Chapter 6

Akanishi-san: Hm..

Chapter 6

"So." Akane said, breaking the odd silence that had loomed over the table where she, her brother and Itachi sat. Itachi was going to go to his "home" but Sasuke would not allow it. Sasuke threatened to break Hokage's orders and hurt him…even kill Itachi if he came near.

Itachi didn't look at her, but at his food. He was in her house, she had invited him for dinner, and permission to stay over for the night. Iruka acknowledged the fact that he was willing to try to fit back in, and he didn't comment at first. Sill, he was worried for his sister.

Iruka studied the older Uchiha with careful eyes. "Itachi," He started to say. Itachi looked up from his meal. "I admit that you have courage, in returning here. I do respect that." He paused. "But it will take more to convince me that you are true to your words."

Itachi nodded, understandingly. Akane looked at both of them with wary eyes, ready for anything. Iruka continued, ignoring his sister's looks. "I know that you know that I have some kunai hidden under my sleeves. That's how much I trust you now. At least I'm not open with it." He said, and Itachi nodded once again. "I don't care if you say you weren't truly the one who killed your clan. What matters is who you are going to be now."

"I don't want to run away any longer." Itachi said softly. "No more."

Akane fidgeted. "Uh, I think we should eat before everything gets cold, yeah?" She looked at the two with pleading eyes to not to fight.

Iruka with one more look at Itachi, started to eat. Itachi followed suit, and ate. The dinner went pretty well, although there was obvious tension in the room. The three ate without talking sometimes, and when a conversation did start, one would end it by a comment. Which, usually started with Akane, and end with Itachi.

Iruka did try to trust Itachi again, but he couldn't. He watched his sister cry herself to sleep so many days after Itachi's leave. He watched Akane walk past the Uchiha mansion with loneliness. He knew, and he felt her sorrow. Still, Itachi's return did make her happy, and she seemed to trust him. But he wasn't willing to trust him just yet. This could be, after all, a trap. The Akatsuki did want Akane for a time.

Iruka looked at sister, and he winced as he saw her wounds. She didn't have them before she had been taken by Akatsuki. What had they done to her? She spoke none of it, so he had kept quiet all this time but as a brother, he wanted to know.

Seeing Iruka's gaze, Akane sighed. "I was just tortured into making me tell the Akatsuki my skills." She said with a sigh. Itachi froze, remembering what had occurred those days. He had just sat there, like a lame duck, doing nothing…watching.

The dinner's mood slightly lifted and some tension was released as Akane kept talking. The fact that Itachi tried to keep the conversation up too helped Iruka ease his muscles. Still, he was suspicious of the used to be missing-nin.

"Take the bed." Akane said, grabbing a blanket and a pillow as she led Itachi came across her room after his turn at the shower. "I'll sleep on the couch."

Itachi felt his cheek muscles tighten. He had talked more than he did in a year's worth in this could hours. "No." He managed to say. He looked her over, seeing her injuries under her clothes. "You are still injured." His words were clipped and short, but he managed to point his argument across. He still felt awkward, acting with emotions. He didn't know what to feel in truth. So long had he lived without showing emption, so long he had acted alone, so lone since someone had cared for him, so long since he had cared for anyone.

The kunoichi raised her eyebrows at him. "And let my guest sleep at the couch?" She asked, preparing to take her blankets and pillow out of the room. "I don't think so." She turned, facing him with her bundle in her arms.

Itachi however wordlessly took the stuff in her arms and walked out ignoring her protest. He tossed the things onto the couch and sat down. Seeing how Akane had followed him, he sighed. He looked at her with a glare he did not really intend.

Even with the glare Akane didn't back down. She knew what to be expected. He was a glare-type anyway from the beginning. "Oh fine." She said, sighing. "Let me get you some clothes for you to sleep in at least. Iruka nii-san's clothes might be short on you, but it will have to do." With a smile she left him, going to her brother's room.

Iruka watched his sister take one of his spare pajamas he had left out on top of his drawers for that purpose. "I don't know, Akane." He said. When she turned to him with a quizzical look, he walked up to her and closed the door softly. He placed himself between her and the door, and he looked anywhere but her. "He…"

"No." She said, looking at the ground now. "Please, don't." She looked up and into his eyes. His eyes showed worry, and hers bore fear. A forced smile was on her lips as she whispered, "I want to believe him."

Iruka fidgeted uncomfortably. "So do I." He said after a second. "But…"

"I'm not a child anymore, Nii-san." She said with the same smile. "And if he acts different, I'll…stop him." She cast her eyes downwards. "If he steps between me and Konoha's peace, I will."

"Akane…you…"

"Sorry, but…for now, I want to trust him and hope that he…still loves me, and believe that he means goof for Konoha." Akane looked at Iruka, but he could tell that she looked beyond him, where Itachi sat.

With a sigh Iruka shook his head. He slowly stepped out of her way. "All right. I trust you. If you trust him, so will I." He hugged her with a smile. "I just don't want to see you hurt again, that is all."

Akane nodded, a genuine smile on her lips. "Me too." She whispered.

"Well, go on. I'm sure he is waiting." Iruka said, letting her go as he opened the door for her. "You are in charge of watching him?" He inquired as she gathered her things again.

She shook her head. "No, of course not. I'm slightly biased." She shrugged. "I feel two other anbu are watching, and many are positioned nearby too. Wherever he goes, I go and so do they."

"Just making sure." He replied, and let his sister pass. He wanted to trust him, he truly did. But…he sighed as he heard Akane give the clothing to Itachi. Just in case, Iruka left the door open incase anything happened. He trudged to the bathroom, intent on taking a relaxing bath…if that was possible. He decided to talk to Itachi, alone later.

Itachi said nothing as he took the clothing. Akane fidgeted a little not knowing what to say. "Do you need anything else? Extra pillow? Blanket?" She watched him shake his head. He hadn't truly changed, she saw. He was still the un-talkative Itachi. Still, the years as a missing-nin take a toll on him. There was an aura of danger around him, and she felt it radiating.

"Well, goodnight then, Itachi." She said, and turned to walk to her own room. Just as she was going to turn a corner to her room, she turned back to see him shifting around, getting ready to sleep. "Itachi?" She asked. He looked up. "I'm glad you are back." She pasued, flittering her eyes to the ground and back. "I loved you, and I…still do." It was almost a whisper, but he heard it.

Without waiting for an answer she left leaving Itachi who looked confused. He stared at where she had disappeared to for a long while, feeling crashes of different emotions. He didn't know what to feel. He knew that he still cared for her. He still cared for his brother. He cared for Konoha. But the people…? Would they believe just as Akane had done?

He didn't know how long he sat there, trying to sort his mind. But when he looked over his shoulder hearing someone he saw Iruka emerging from his bath. Making the eye contact Iruka shied away at first, but looked up in a second, this time with determination. "I want to know." He said, his voice sharp.

Itachi said nothing, waiting for Iruka to finish his sentence. He had an idea that was coming. When Iruka did not follow his words, Itachi nodded. "I want to live here." Just those simple words.

Iruka and Itachi regarded each other with hidden emotions, but finally Iruka gave in, sighing. "You used to be so good, helping Akane out…" He said as he started to walk to his own room. "I expect the same." Iruka went into his room, and closed the door halfway. He didn't move away for the door yet "But this doesn't mean I trust you. I won't be able to for a long while, Itachi. You left me with a broken girl, who I love and care. See to that you will never do that again, and if you do…" He glared at the former missing-nin from the door. With a curt nod he disappeared into the room.

The former Akatsuki ninja looked at his hands. He had killed so many with his own hands; did he belong? He closed his hands into a fist and decided to rest. His thoughts were still clouded with crashes of emotions.

"So." Someone said, breaking an eerie silence. "Itachi?"

"He's been sighted in Konoha with the woman." A voice replied, his voice dipped with hatred. Murmurs broke, but hushed when the same voice continued. "He just made a path for us into Konoha. He'll help us get in."

"What if he doesn't?" Someone asked. There were nods of agreement. There were Five men there, and they all had cloaks that were dotted with red clouds. "What if he did go back on his own will to be back in Konoha?"

Two of them chuckled. "Itachi?" One said, shaking his head. "He probably made a rout in. He works by himself, remember. He probably went to get that Kyuubi he let escape before."

"And what's better, maybe he'll bring _both_ the Kyuubi and the woman." People chuckled.

"It's Itachi," one said, and everyone hushed. "He won't betray us. He won't, and can't. I doubt he's even thinking of leaving us. Maybe the woman had fooled him into leaving us temporarily, but he'll return."

There were nods and murmurs. "He will return, I am sure of it."

"Could we pay a visit?" Someone asked, and everyone's attention turned to him. The man who had spoken had blonde hair that was tied back, and his bangs covered one of his eyes.

"Deidara, you wish to go…?" One asked with an amused tone.

He shrugged in response. "That stupid woman gave me trouble. Itachi can get the Kyuubi, I'll get he woman."

"Let me go, too." Someone stepped up. It was the same man who had come with Itachi to get Akane in middle of the night. "That woman needs punishments." He was still bitter about letting her escape that time he had gone. After he offered her a place as his slave, too!

There were chuckles. "Go, but only the woman…Alive."

"I won't guarantee she will be unhurt." Deidara said with a snicker. "If she resists, I'll…"

"You have permission." Those words brought grins to both of the Akatsuki's face. "And if Itachi seems to protect them, try to knock some sense into him. The woman may have been his _friend _before, but we are better friends."

"He won't ignore us forever. He wouldn't be able to, anyway." Someone added, who was followed by murmurs of agreement.

"Oh yes." One replied. "He would not dare to cross us again." Low chuckles followed the voice, all agreeing to the statement.

Kai punched a nearby tree, the strong barks crunching under his strong fists. He glared at the tree, his eyes burning with hate. "I'll catch you red handed, you are a criminal." He growled, and hit the tree again with more ferocity.

The trees around him all had similar dents, some even had fallen over. Kai looked into the skies, where stars shone. The moon was crescent, the light fading behind clouds that moved around it. He was far enough from the city, so he knew he wouldn't disturb anyone.

"For you, Akane." He whispered, and kicked at the tree which he had just punched. The tree fell with a thud, crashing onto the floor shaking the earth. "I'll catch him, and make sure he is put behind bars…or death."

Akanishi-san: OMG! Two conflicts! Yeahhh. Anyway, I'm not sure if I am going to continue. SORRY!!! It's just that I can't see how I am going to tie this all into one knot. I wrote this as I thought of it, and I just can't think of more plots. ARRGGGG.

Okay, so I am over exaggerating. I won't stop, but it probably will be weird from here on. Sorry guys! But I hope you guys will stick with me, and I really hope for some of you guys to throw me some plot ideas.

**Thanks to MTG and Darkmoon for this chappie's plot help!! **

**BUT! I STILL NEED HELP! ANY IDEAS????**


	7. Chapter 7

Akanishi-san: Gah! I don't know how to end this whole story…Haha…arg.

Chapter 7

"Good morning." Akane said, looking at Itachi with a soft smile. "How was your first night at Konoha?"

Itachi looked at the woman with a sleepy look, a frown on his face. He still felt odd being in Konoha without worrying about anbu coming after him. "Fine." His word was clipped and short, but he did get the message across. He still didn't know how to act around her; he had left her, to go with Akatsuki.

Akane nodded with a chuckle. "Well then, how about we go shopping today? Tsunade-sama gave me this week off, to help you get used to the people again." She said, going into the kitchen. "You need clothes and other necessary items anyway."

"Right." Itachi replied, watching her move around in the kitchen. He looked out of the window, his eyes scanning his surroundings. He was still alert, ready for anything. He knew that Akatsuki would not let him off that easily and they could be as well next to him without any of them noticing.

To put it short; he was afraid.

Afraid of the Akatsuki coming to take him back. Afraid of them for all the blood they had spilt. His clan, his village. He was afraid, that they would spill the blood of his friend and companion: Akane. Still, he kept that thought aside, He wasn't truly sure about this feelings yet, anyway. He was still getting used to be around people who cared about him.

"Hey." Iruka entered, yawning widely. He looked at Itachi with a sharp look and entered the kitchen, helping his sister prepare breakfast. "Morning." He said to her, who hugged him in reply.

"Morning, Nii-san.' She said, and returned to her cooking.

When breakfast was served the tension much to Akane's relief, seemed to have ebbed away a little. "Nii-san, we're going to go shopping today. Would you like us to buy something?" She offered, picking up her glass of milk and drinking it.

Iruka pondered on that for a moment, and finally shook his head. "No, just focus on whatever you are going to do. There's nothing we need at the moment." He said, and picked up his plate as he finished his last bit of rice. "I'm off to work though, have fun." He said, and kissed her forehead lightly and went to the sink.

Smiling Akane picked her own plates as well as Itachi as they finished. "All right, clothes first?" She asked Itachi as she joined her brother in the sink. "I'll wash, you're about to be late, Nii-san." She said lightly, nodding to the clock on the wall.

Groaning Iruka left the sink and in a split second was out of the door. Of course, before he left he gave a look towards Itachi that read: Remember what I said last night.

Pretending not to notice, Akane finished washing the dishes and said, "There's extra clothing in front of Nii-san's room. You can wear that until we get your proper attire today. We'll leave in…" She glanced at the clock. "Half an hour, all right?"

Itachi nodded. He watched her for a little while and left to get the clothes and to get ready. By the time he got out of the bathroom he saw Akane ready to go, wearing a green shirt that covered her anbu mark on her shoulder. She wore casual attire, so casual that to one who didn't know her rank would never guess that she was a ninja.

"Come on." She grinned as she saw him, and trotted over to the door. "Let's go."

They walked in silence, but that was because of the stares they earned. Some did recognize the older Uchiha, and they glared and whispered amongst themselves. "Look, its him. What is Tsunade-sama thinking?"

"Maybe he tricked her."

"What is Akane-san doing? Walking around with him?"

Itachi pretended not to notice, keeping his emotionless look. Akane looked at the ground, biting her bottom lip. She knew that he would be received this way, but still…she was hurt. However, she was not the type to let these people's talk ruin their day. "Oh, let's go there." She said, pulling on Itachi's arm, guiding him into a store. "Come on, try them on." She urged as she threw some clothes into Itachi's arms, pushing into dressing rooms.

The storekeepers of the stores they went to gave them looks, but each time they ignored them, continuing their shopping. Towards the end of the day they had bunch of new clothes for both Itachi and Akane, and other necessary items for the new resident.

Whispers always followed them around, but they both pretended not t hear. They talked a bit, some tension from Itachi loosening. They acted normally, as they had before…or they tried to. It was still new to both of them, no matter how much both wanted to be as they were before.

"Aniki." Sasuke came into their view as they turned a corner, getting ready to go home. Sasuke was accompanied by Sakura and Naruto, and they all gaped at them. Hatred was still surrounding Sasuke, and he glared at his brother. He had heard the whole thing from Tsunade, but he still could not believe it.

Itachi stopped dead on his tracks, looking at his brother. "Sasuke." He said, and Akane looked at him as he tensed a bit.

"Hello, you three." Akane said, smiling with her best. "Shopping?" She asked, seeing Sakura with a bag.

Sakura, who knew what was going on, nodded. "Yes, we ran out of some Kunai and some scrolls." She eyed the older Uchiha carefully, knowing how powerful he was. If he wanted to kill them, he would succeed. And she knew that. Her right hand twitched as she got ready to grab a kunai if needed.

"Ah, I see." Akane said hastily, trying to hold the tension down. Sasuke was glaring, and Itachi was regarding his brother with a semi-glare. Of course, Itachi glared at everyone, but still…There was some tint of sorrow behind his glare but no one would notice, she was sure, except her.

Naruto looked at his Uchiha teammate, and then to his brother. "Itachi." He said, frowning at him. He remembered when the older Uchiha had come to get him, driving Sasuke into a coma in the process. Still, like Akane he was not the type to get dragged on by the past. "Welcome to Konoha, I guess." He said, shrugging. "Come on, Sasuke. We still need to buy scrolls."

Akane sighed with relief as Naruto pushed Sasuke on down the street, Sakura following with a nod towards them. "Itachi…" Akane started, but stopped as soon as she saw him watching his brother walk away. With another sigh, she looked at the ground. "It'll take a while, but I promise, Itachi…Sasuke will understand, someday. He's not stupid. He is just in denial right now."

Itachi looked at her with his emotionless look, making her flinch a little. Still, she did not cast her eyes away. "Right." He said, and moved on, his back towards the three ninjas who had gone the other way.

Sasuke growled as he walked on, his head spinning. He did not know what to believe. He wanted to believe Tsunade's words; that Itachi was not the blame. Still, he did see his parents' bodies on the ground, with Itachi next to them. He remembered how Itachi had used his Sharingan on him. He shuddered, shaking his head a little to clear the vision away.

Naruto watched with a frown, trying to think of the best way to comfort his friend. It was hard, even to him. "Sasuke, how about you and Itachi talk a bit?" He asked. "I mean…if Tsunade-baachan is right…"

"No." Sasuke snapped, his eyes burning with anger. "I won't…I refuse. Not until he proves this…this…thing." With a frustrated growl he parted from his teammates, going towards his house.

Sakura and Naruto watched him walk away, not stopping him. "He'll understand someday, right?" Naruto asked, to which Sakura shook her head sadly.

"I don't know." She replied.

---

"Told you Itachi was on our side." Deidara said, shifting to see something ahead of him. He and another Akatsuki member were hidden behind trees. "Because Itachi's in here, the stupid guards didn't see us coming. They were too pre-occupied with him inside here."

"Deidara, you're in my way." The other growled, but saw the house where the older Uchiha resided in. He was the man who had come to get Akane nights before with Itachi. The shadow which had captured Akane before circled around him dangerously, and oddly they had shapes; shapes of black snakes.

"Stop wining, Hebi." Deidara replied with a chuckle. "Come on, let's get Itachi and he can get the stupid fox brat while we take the woman." He shifted, and put his hands together. When he opened his hands, a small clay bird rested on his right hand. His chakra had molded the bird, and with hop it flew away, towards the house.

They watched the bird enter the house, knowing that the anbu would not notice a bird. It was created real enough…besides, no one knew Deidara's abilities yet. At once a shadow loomed over them and they turned to see Itachi behind them.

"Hey, Itachi!" Deidara greeted with a grin.

Hebi nodded to him. "Let's get this over with." He growled, shifting. His black shadows twisted with anticipation behind him. "You get the brat, we'll get the woman."

Itachi frowned. "No." He said, slowly. He pulled on his Akatsuki cloak, regarding them with his blood-red eyes. "Wait."

Deidara and Hebi looked at him with frowns on their faces. "Why." Hedi asked, suspicious. "You don't care for here, and her, do you?"

"No." Itachi replied again, his voice smooth. "But we wait. I want to do something else…Besides, how can we with so many anbu around the house? Wait another month, when they loosen up a bit."

"You're right, but…" Deidara started, but bit his tongue when Itachi glared at him.

"In a month or so the anbu would loosen the tight watch they keep on me. It's only a matter of time until they notice me here." Itachi said, but still did not look away from the two Akatsuki in front of him.

Hebi looked around himself, glaring. "Fine. We'll be back in a month or so." He growled, and turned around to face the exit. "We expect something." He growled, and disappeared. Deidara gave a glare, and followed Hebi. They both knew not to cross Itachi, no matter how unreasonable his choices seemed.

Itachi sighed and disappeared, appearing inside the living room. He stared at the ground in front of him, sitting on the couch. He looked at the new clothing at the corner of the room, remembering what they had done today.

Suddenly someone banged on the door hard, and Itachi swung onto his feet, alert. Akane and Iruka appeared from their rooms, both of them looking alert as well. Akane paused to stand next to Itachi, and Iruka walked to the door, opening it.

Behind the door, were Kai and number of anbu, who streamed in and surrounded Itachi. "You are under arrest, Uchiha Itachi." Kai growled.

"What?" Both Iruka and Akane gasped. "What are you talking about? Kai?" Akane asked, walking to Kai who pulled her away from Itachi with a glare at him.

"I saw him, Akane. I heard him talking to Akatsuki with my own ears. I saw him, with my own eyes. He's here, to take you and Naruto. He's still under Akatsuki!"

Akanishi-san: AGAIN! thanks for the people who helped me with the plot for this! I owe you SO much. :) plot helps are ALWAYS welcome, and i appreciate everyone who does help. Thanks again!


	8. Chapter 8

Akanishi-san: Weee. ANOTHER late update. I'm sure you all are sick of me. Sorry!

Chapter 8

"What?" Akane gasped, her eyes wide. What was going on? She spun towards Itachi, who refused to meet her eyes. "I…tachi?" She asked, and she then realized that she was trembling. "Itachi, tell me that's not true…You…Akatsuki…Itachi…"

Kai thirsted his chin to Itachi, and from that order number of anbu closed in on him. "You, are under arrest." Kai growled, holding Akane close to him. He felt her trembling, and he glared daggers at the man who had caused all of this. "Once a criminal, always a criminal."

The anbu carefully closed in, and much to their surprise, Itachi gave no fight. "This way." One said, giving Itachi suspicious looks. They had thought that he would fight back, if he was caught. But…it could be an another tactic.

The anbu team carefully walked out of the complex, Itachi in their tight circle, his hands bound, his eyes blindfolded. A soft whisper stopped them for a moment. Itachi turned around from that voice, his heart twisting.

"Itachi…" Akane fell onto her knees, her only support Kai's arms. Iruka was speechless. Everything was going so fast! He stared at Itachi for a long while, until he noticed his sister on the ground. He rushed over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "No…" Her whispers were sobs. "No…"

"Go." Kai's voice cut through the soft whimpers. The anbu team nodded, and led the elder Uchiha out. He made no motion to fight back. He only followed, but before he left the complex, he turned slightly, remembering who was inside.

Once they were out of sight, Kai turned to Akane, who stared at the ground, leaning against Iruka's arms for support now. Iruka hugged her tightly, not saying a word. His sister sobbed in his arms, tears streaming through her fingers that tried to stop it from falling.

"Akane." Kai whispered, squatting next to her. He reached for her, but she slapped it away before they touched her. "Go away…" She whispered. "Please, Kai…don't." She hiccupped, tears falling onto the floor. "You…please…I won't be able to see you for a while…if you didn't come in…if you didn't see Itachi talking…"

"Shh…" Iruka whispered, hugging her closely. He nodded to Kai, who looked crestfallen. "I think…it's best if you leave her alone for a while. She…doesn't mean what she is saying right now."

Through his hurt eyes, Kai looked at Akane once more. Water dripped from her eyes endlessly, and she was still trembling. He nodded numbly, stumbling as he got up. He realized that he too, was shaking. "Akane…" He started to say, but seeing Iruka shake his head, he gave one more longing look and left.

---

Itachi sighed as he sat down, leaning against the cold cement walls around him. There were some sorts of ninjutsu on the walls around him, so that if anyone inside the walls started to use chakra, the walls would absorb it. Itachi experimentally held out his hand, trying to form chakra. He felt his chakra flow to his hand, but as soon as the chakra started to surface, he felt the wall tugging at his chakra. Soon, the energy was gone.

He looked at the ceiling as he tilted his head back, letting it rest against the wall. He sighed deeply, trying to think clearly. They had thrown him inside the cell as soon as his blindfold was taken away. He was presented with food hours later, so he assumed it was past morning.

"Akane…" The food on the small tray was still untouched. He had no appetite.

---

"Akane," Iruka said, knocking on the door to his sister's room. "Akane?" He asked, knocking again. "Can I come in?"

No answer.

"Akane?" He asked, but he opened the door. Her room, was a complete mess. Everything was on the floor, still many were not broken completely. It just looked like she had swept her hand across shelves so that everything fell off. Akane herself, was on the bed, curled up. Her sheets were thrown aside, pillows on the floor.

"Iruka-niisan." She sobbed. Her face was buried inside her knees. "I…don't know what to do." She whispered. Iruka silently made his way to her, and sat next to her. "I wanted to believe him…I did, and now…" She whimpered.

Iruka didn't say anything for a while, and silence hung the air. "Come on, I made breakfast, let's go eat it." He said, trying o sound cheerful. "Akane, you won't get anywhere until you eat. Won't you have another anbu mission soon?"

"No." Was Akane's cut reply. "For both…I'm not hungry, and I won't have anymore missions."

"What do you mean, anymore?" Iruka asked, suspicious. "You don't mean…" He saw her nod. "No, Akane! You…the anbu team need you. You've led some of them as their leader and you've improved a lot…"

Akane shook her head. "I'm tiered of all this fighting, if I wasn't an anbu, I would be here, maybe helping you out grading papers. I'm just…I don't want to fight. If I wasn't at that mission, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Akane." Iruka sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, you learned so much after being promoted to anbu…" He looked at her, who was still refusing the look up. "Maybe quit for a while, rest, but…"

"I know." Akane replied after a pause. "I…won't stop being an anbu, but…" She shook her head, and finally looked up, her eyes red from crying. "Nii-san…" She whispered. She clung onto his shirt with her trembling fingers. "Nii-san, Itachi…I…"

Iruka kissed her forehead lightly, trying to calm her. "Shh…" He whispered. "You need sleep, Akane. Then food." He released her, and patted her head. "Once you wake up, come into the kitchen. I'll leave a plate for you." He started for the door. "Eat whenever you feel like it, but Akane…you have to eat."

Akane nodded, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you." She whispered. Iruka nodded with a sad smile and left, closing the door behind him softly. Akane looked out of her window with a sigh. The sun was out, shining brightly. Her heart's sun, was covered with clouds.

"Itachi…" She whispered. Until later that day, the food Iruka promised was not touched. She, had no appetite.

---

"He got what?" Deidara yelled as Hebi explained what was going on in Konoha. They were hidden in a small cottage they had found a little away from Konoha. The former resident? They were at the corner of the house, red substance sprayed all around them.

Hebi fell heavily into a chair, growling. "He got caught." He snapped. "And what's even more puzzling is that he had submitted himself to them!" He threw his hands into the air in frustration.

Deidara punched a table as he got up, so strong that it split in half. He cursed loudly, glaring. "What do we do now?" He snapped. "Do we have to rescue Itachi or do we grab the Tail-carrier and the woman?" He started to pace. "Either way, it'll be risky, now that Itachi has been caught. Konoha's ninjas would be alert for us."

"That's only if we are caught." Hebi said after a while. "I vote for the woman and the fox." He placed his legs onto the now broken down table. "Itachi can fend for himself…if he can't; he's not worth to be an Akatsuki." He got up, letting his weight break the table even more. Dark figures that were both his weapon and shadow loomed around him dangerously.

The blond glared. "Keep that under control, will you?" He snapped. He watched as a art of the Hebi's shadow formed a head of a snake, baring its fangs. "You can easily sneak past in the night, since your shadow won't be seen in the darkness."

Chuckling, Hebi started for the door. "Then are we going?" He asked.

"Of course."

---

"Who is it?" Iruka walked over to their house door upon hearing a knock. It had been hours since the incident, now it was around eight in the afternoon. Akane, had not been out of her room since. She was either sleeping, or just sitting on her bed. All her brother could do, was to wait.

"Hello, Iruka-san." Kai greeted behind the door. His voice was soft, it was obvious he was hurt from her words earlier. "I came to ask…"

Iruka shook his head sadly. "She hasn't come out of her room since." He whispered. He motioned for him to come in. Kai hesitated, but entered. "I think…I should thank you." Iruka said as he sat down across from Kai in the living room.

Kai seemed surprised at that. "For what? All I had done was to make your sister…" He stopped. "That…Criminal…I won't ever forgive him." He growled.

"No." Iruka said, shaking his head. "If you hadn't caught Itachi talking to the other Akatsuki members…who knows what might have happened?" He paused, thinking about the older Uchiha. "I had thought…Itachi had come around."

Kai made a fist, gripping so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "He…I won't forgive him. Akane…That criminal!" He growled in frustration. "How did Akane come to trust him to bring him back to Konoha? I even told her it was nonsense, and even Hokage-sama! How can she…love him?"

"I don't know." The voice that echoed from the hallways froze Kai.

He sprang up from his sitting position, holding his breath. "A…Akane." He gasped, trying to collect himself. "Are you…erm, feeling better?" He fidgeted.

Akane smiled best she could, shaking her head. "Sit down, Kai." She said. Her voice was weak, too soft. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, the betrayal that had been dawned upon her twice, now from the same person; from the one she loved. "I wish I never loved him, too." She whispered as she walked into the kitchen.

Iruka shook his head at Kai who was about to walk to her. "Give her room." He said. Iruka pitied Kai in a way, for he knew that Akane didn't love Kai that way. Still, Iruka did want her to be with Kai. Kai would definitely devote himself to her, and he would be willing to accommodate to her liking. He would defiantly, not let her cry.

Kai sank onto his chair, watching Akane place food into the microwave. Her eyes seemed hollow, lifeless. Still, there she was, standing in front of him. And the fact that it was his fault in a way that she was like this…made him angry. He looked away from her, and stared at the floor beneath him. "I've got to go." He suddenly said, getting up.

"I thought you wanted to talk to Akane?" Iruka asked.

"Yes, but I have…somewhere else to be at." He stood up from his sitting position, reaching for his jacket that he had laid next to him. "Thank you for letting me stay for a while, Iruka-san." He started to walk towards the door, pausing at the kitchen to look at Akane. She did not make eye contact with him. "Akane, I'll see you soon?" He asked.

She nodded, her eyes still downcast. Kai felt his heart twist, but suppressing his emotions he started for the door again. "Hey Kai?" Her voice stopped him before he went out the door. He turned around, to see her standing in the hallway.

He was surprised; he hadn't thought that she would not speak to him for a long time. "Ye…yeah?" He asked, watching her.

"Are you free…tomorrow?" She asked. She finally looked up into his eyes, her eyes deep with worry. "Do you want to…do something tomorrow with me? Movie, or something?" She fidgeted.

Kai froze on his feet, staring at her dumbfounded. "Yes…" He started to say, his heart swelling with joy. "Yes, of course! Anything for you, Akane." He grinned his best, to which she responded with her own smile. He saw the force behind that smile, and instantly knew why he was being asked.

He knew that she only wanted someone to fill her empty heart. Still, he was happy that she had asked him, to fill it. If he could, maybe she would consider him more than a friend? Even if he was being used for now…he wanted to believe, that maybe someday she would let her affection grow. Maybe tomorrow might come out differently? He wanted to believe that.

"Tomorrow, at ten?" She asked.

"I'll come and pick you up." He promised.

He would show Itachi, he would show him how Akane would eventually love him than Itachi, a criminal. Kai closed the door behind him, his glare directed towards where Itachi was kept.

He started to make towards the cell, his eyes reflecting a murderous look. He had two things to say to the criminal:

Threats of his life for hurting Akane so much. Maybe not even just threats, maybe he would even go to Tsunade after, and have him executed?

Then: Akane, would never love him, but himself, Kai. He wanted to show Itachi, how much Akane deserved better, and that man, was to be himself.

Akanishi-san: Sooo...dun dun dun! lol.


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